Tenant Rights and Responsibilities – Todd Kaplan

I am a Somerville resident, attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services and have worked for over a decade with tenants and landlords around tenancy issues focusing mainly on stabilizing tenancies. While I exclusively represent tenants, I understand that landlords have needs and rights too. I know that to stabilize a tenancy I must listen to and try and understand the landlord’s concerns.

Have you ever had a conflict with your landlord that when you looked back on it you could have handled better? Have you had a problem with your apartment but did not know your legal rights as tenant? Massachusetts has some of the best tenant protections in the country but these laws do you little good if you don’t know your legal rights! This class will fill you in or your rights and responsibilities as a tenant and discuss strategies for resolving typical landlord/tenant conflicts. We will learn about security deposits, how and when to report a problem to the board of health and how to foster good clear communications with your landlord. We will touch on how evictions work and services available to you to resolve conflicts with your landlord. I will not be able to provide legal advise on your issues but feel free to bring general questions that we can discuss together.